Higher Prices Drive McDonald’s U.S. Sales Gain as Traffic Lags

(Bloomberg) -- McDonald’s Corp. just logged its best global sales in seven years. Now it just needs to get more Americans back in the door.

The world’s biggest restaurant chain said Friday that despite strong same-store sales growth, including in the U.S. region, guest count in its home market is still negative compared to last year. That means fewer buyers are placing orders, even though those who do are spending more, bolstering overall sales figures.

“Strong average check growth from both product mix and pricing continues to fuel our top line in the U.S.,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ozan said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “However, returning to guest count growth in the U.S. remains a top priority in the fight for market share.”

Part of the higher average spending in the U.S. can be attributed to rising menu prices. McDonald’s has been offering discounted items to draw in customers but hiking prices elsewhere to maintain margins. Delivery is also at play: When customers order through an app, they tend to add more items to make the delivery fee worthwhile, driving up their average order cost.

The negative traffic numbers in the U.S. may have spooked investors, who initially pushed the stock to a record high Friday morning before the shares pared gains during the call.

To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Rockeman in New York at orockeman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Timothy Annett

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